Author: Dramming Around

A pretend-to-be-young Italian couple on a quest to discover whisk(e)y distilleries and their golden nectar

#58 A trip to the West

Hopping to Arran from Campbeltown

 

TL; DR: I (Gianluigi) went away on a weekend to the West of Scotland with Roberto, one of my best pals. It was a great day in Campbeltown, where we paid a visit to Springbank, before indulging in a couple of warehouse tastings. Then we went to Arran, where we climbed Goatfell and visited the island (but not the distilleries). 

The year 2024 was full of great whisky experiences and travels: from Raasay to Speyside, from Islay (twice) to the Central Belt, and further down to Yorkshire…And a bit more down to Australia. It was also the year when one of us, namely Gianluigi, turned 40, which we celebrated with some great drams. One of his best pals Roberto turned 40 as well. Not only pals and uni mates, they also played together in bands for almost 10 years: hand and glove.

To celebrate us getting old (from now on is Gianluigi writing), Roberto decided to come to Scotland for a weekend, and I had the task to choose some whisky experiences to do together. We had to aim for something opened over the weekend, at least on the Saturday. Because of this, we excluded the Ardnamurchan peninsula, and also Skye and the North Highlands, a bit out of reach. Speyside could have been nice if more distilleries had options catered to whisky geeks (excluding Glen Moray and Glenallachie, but Teresa and I visited them a number of times already). After some thinking, the answer became obvious: Campbeltown! Easy (ish) to reach, many options to choose from on the Saturday. Teresa and I were there last year, but for the Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting, which is always different. We haven’t stepped into Springbank or another of the distilleries since 2021, so it really fit.

When the time came, I picked up Roberto at the airport on a cloudy day, and we started driving westwards. With a slight detour, I could show him some of the monuments: the Kelpies, the Stirling Castle, the Wallace monument, Deanston distillery (we didn’t stop though). By then, it had turned into a very nice and sunny day. We drove up north to Callander, and approached Loch Lomond from the north, with glimpses of Highlands along the way. Once in Tarbet, we continued to Arrochar and had our first stop for a refreshment under the sun at the Fyne Ales Brewery. Dinner was booked at the George Hotel, in Inveraray, so we could chat with our pal Ivan, always a pleasure. We both had a proper venison burger for dinner, delicious! We then drove another couple of hours to find the spot we had chosen to sleep, just past Tarbert in the Kintyre peninsula.

  • Pre-dinner refreshments.

The day after was an early start: we had to be in Campbeltown by 9, so to have enough time to drop Mr Vantastic at the hotel (there are no campsites in town, so we took the comfortable way) and have a quick breakfast with a bacon roll and a coffee. Our first whisky activity of the day was before 10 (probably the only one in the whisky hospitality): the Springbank Tour. When we got at the distillery, around 9.40, there was already a line to get into the shop…Cage bottles we assumed? Our tour guide Finlay said they are used now to people queueing, eager to make a few bucks on auction sites. Hey ho. The tour started a few minutes earlier, as all the participants were already there: it was a nice tour, very informative, and Finlay only made it better with some jokes here and there. It wasn’t the first distillery Roberto had visited, as in previous trips we’d visited Lindores Abbey and Highland Park together, but it was the best one to showcase whisky making. He was particularly excited to see the malting floor in use (although not a unique feature in Scotland),as  he’d never seen the barley being malted before.

  • Always beautiful.
  • Two guys and three stills.

The tour went a bit long, so we took our drams as driver samples, and we ran to our next appointment: the Cadenhead’s Warehouse tasting. It was only the two of us for the morning session at 11, and our guide was an old acquaintance: Aly! It couldn’t have been better! He walked us through some of the drams, most really stunning, including an incredible Glen Moray from a bourbon barrel, and a peated Bunnahabhain from a refill butt, probably a Fino or a Manzanilla. Fortunately, we had empty sample bottles with us, that we used to store most of our drams…It was going to be a long day! As the tasting ended, an extra half hour late, Aly walked us to the Cadenhead’s tasting room, where we had the seventh drams (again put into sample bottles) and a delicious mushroom soup.

  • Thanks Aly!

We went for a walk around the harbour, as it was again a magnificent day, but we felt that one soup was not enough, so we complemented the lunch with a jacked potato and a plate of nachos at the Bluebell Cafè. During the walk, we also went past Glen Scotia distillery – I felt a bit bad that we could not make it to such a great distillery, but unfortunately the timing of the tours was not good for us. 

It finally came the time for our last event of the day: the Kilkerran Warehouse tasting. It was the first time for me as well, so I was very curious. We were not alone this time, as a group of Dutch men were attending the tasting too. We started with a triple distilled whisky, then a couple of ex-bourbon cask expressions (the first one a 19y!), followed by a sherry and a Port wine matured couple, to finish with, predictably, a heavily peated one. That was quite a great exploration of Kilkerran, which is definitely one of my favourite ones. A good thing is that only half bottles are on sale, which if you ask me, is a more than enough quantity to enjoy such drams. After the tasting, we had an extra dram at the Washback bar (couldn’t leave without sipping a Longrow 18, another favourite!) and then we went to properly check in to the hotel. Soon though, we walked back to the Ardshiel Hotel for dinner, where we had a yummy fish and chips. 

  • That looks promising.

In the morning, we woke up surprisingly well (thanks, sample bottles!), and after a shower and a massive full Scottish breakfast at the hotel, we left. I didn’t want to make the weekend only about whisky, I had something else in mind for the day. We drove along the east coast of Kintyre, to reach the little pier of Claonaig. From there, we sailed to on the Isle of Arran! It’s been a while since Teresa and I were there, our first and only time was in November 2019…Remember the time before the pandemic? We haven’t been back since, reason why Teresa was particularly jealous of this trip! The ferry cross was only about half hour, before arriving at the pier in Lochranza. As we were there, we couldn’t avoid a quick stop at the distillery…Could we? We stopped only for coffee and a (delicious) scone however, and a quick snoop of the shop. After that, we drove to the parking lot near Brodick, for the challenge of the day: climb Goatfell, the highest peak of the island. And it was a challenge indeed, in particular the last bit. It took us almost 2 hours through the almost 6km of the shortest path. Once at the top, we celebrated with a micro dram of a Cadenhead’s Arran whisky Teresa had gifted me a while ago, truly delicious.

  • Climbing Goatfell, that was hard!
  • …But totally worth it.

On our way back, we decided to take the longer path through Glen Rosa…We thought it would have been slightly longer, but it ended up being almost 11 km! During the walk we crossed path with many runners on a 2-day ultra marathon, we felt a bit sorry for them, as THAT was definitely a challenge. Once at the parking lot, we put our feet in the sea for a brief moment (in my case, very brief, as it was freezing), before getting some food at a nearby golf club restaurant. We drove west to find a spot, so we could enjoy the sunset with a final dram, before falling asleep to the sound of the sea…So poetic.

The Monday was warm and sunny, we visited the south of Arran. We started with Machrie Moor, the neolithic site with stone circles and standing stones, where we felt a bit like inside Age of Empires 1 (IYKYK). Then we drove along the coast, aiming for a coffee at Lagg distillery, but we found out it is closed on Mondays. We kept driving and stopped at the Forest of the Falls, to enjoy a coffee and a cake under the warm sun. We then walked along the beach near Kildonan Castle, and we finally drove to Brodick to catch our ferry to Troon, from which we slowly drove back to Leith.

  • It’s not just all about whisky.

What a great weekend that was, we were both super happy at the end of it! For Roberto, Saturday was the first time spending such a whisky-focused day, and although he’s not a geek like us, he loved it. Other than the great appreciation for Springbank distillery, he liked the comparison between the two warehouse tastings. He realised how much independent bottlers can offers, while conversely it was also great to follow the “journey” of Kilkerran in different casks and at different ages. It’s always interesting to see things through the eyes of someone not so focused on whisky like us, it brought some different perspectives. We should do that more often!

Until next time, slainte!

Springbank Tour

Price: £15.00 pp (April 2025)

Duration: 1hr (more like 1hr 15min)

Tasting: 1 dram (choice between Springbank 10, Hazelburn 10 and Longrow) and a 5cl to take home

Distillery exclusives: cage bottlings

Target: everyone

Value for money: very good

Highlights: the whisky and the friendly staff

Recommended: yes!

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/

Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting

Price: £45.00 pp (April 2025)

Duration: 1hr (more like 1hr 3omin)

Tasting: 6 drams from the cask + 1 dram at the Cadenhead’s Tasting Room

Target: whisky enthusiasts

Value for money: very good

Highlights: the drams

Recommended: yes!!

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/product/cadenheads-warehouse-tasting/

Kilkerran Warehouse Tasting

Price: £40.00 pp (April 2025)

Duration: 1hr

Tasting: 6 drams from the cask

Target: whisky enthusiasts

Value for money: great

Highlights: the drams

Recommended: yes!!!

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/product/kilkerran-warehouse-tasting/

#57 Fife Whisky Festival and Independent Spirits Festival

A tale of two festivals

 

TL;DR: March has become the month of festivals for us. First, the Fife Whisky Festival, marking our fourth time as volunteers. A couple of weeks later, the first edition of the Independent Spirits Festival. Both of similar size, and both geared towards whisky geeks – two great opportunities to chat with whisky connoisseurs and enthusiasts and have some tasty drams. 

As we got deeper into 2025, the festivals’ season started. Last year it had kicked off very early, in January, thanks to Funky Booze, a very fun and lively festival in Edinburgh that this year was on a hiatus. Nonetheless, this year we didn’t have to wait much longer, as on the 1st of March, taking advantage of a pause in the Six Nations, we were headed to Cupar for the Fife Whisky Festival. This was the fourth time we attended as volunteers, but for the first time we skipped the opening dinner on the Friday, at Lindores Abbey distillery. Feedback from our pals was very good though, and it made us almost regret not going: among the drams that were served, there was a Gianluigi’s favourite, Laphroaig, and a 25y cask sample, wow!

  • Ready? Ready!

Anyway, we arrived in Cupar on Saturday morning, after picking up our pal Francesco, a Leither like us. After checking in with the festival’s directors, Justine and Karen, we helped the exhibitors set up their stands in the upper and lower halls, and then went out to check tickets and distribute wristbands in advance, so that the attendees wouldn’t lose precious dramming time. Both sessions went well, we met a lot of friendly faces (as in previous years) and had the chance to sip some very tasty drams. This year, against all odds, we managed to use our sampling bottles and take them home for quiet sipping. We did the same with the leftover bottles (kindly donated by the exhibitors) – by taking just samples, we could try way more drams at home, much better than having a half bottle of something, which we really don’t need.

  • Busy dramming session in Cupar.

Different to the previous year, the following day there was no distillery trip, but a choice between two warehouse tastings by Fife-based independent bottlers: Lady of the Glen, in Dalgety Bay, and The Single Cask, in Glenrothes. Folks could go to both events if they wanted, as Justine and karen organised a bus to transport people between the two locations. We only did the Lady of the Glen tasting though, with no regrets – we had great time and tried some excellent drams with Paul and Gregor. It was a pity we couldn’t visit a distillery this year (after all, that’s our hobby!), but we love warehouse experiences too.

  • Keeping warm with Lady of the Glen drams.

A couple of weeks later it was time for another festival, a brand new one: the Independent Spirits Festival! It was organised by David Stirk, and conveniently for us, it was held at the Leith Theatre, at crawling distance from our flat. Having been heavily advertised on Roy Aqvavitae Youtube channel, there were many barflies (the channel followers and supporters) from all over Europe and beyond (we think we heard someone coming from New Zealand, impressive!).

  • Round two of the March festivals.

The event was split into two: first, at noon, there was the screening of Independent Spirits. This is a 4-part documentary series about independent whisky bottlers and their role in the industry. It is directed by Greg Swartz and Guy Satchwell, and produced by the same crew behind the great Water of Life documentary. The series is made of short bits of interviews, that together tell the story of how independent bottlers came to be, what’s their role in the whisky industry, currently and in the future. During the screening, we could enjoy a couple of drams, a sherried Tormore, offered by the Elixir Distillers folks, and a peated dram from Glasgow Distillery, matured in an oloroso cask. Both very delicious.

  • Hanging out with whisky enthusiasts…

Once the screening and Q&A session ended, we had about one hour to grab some food. We picked one of our favourite spots in the neighbourhood: Peter’s Food Hub, a multi-cuisine take out. The festival session started at 4pm, although people who had attended the screening could get in a whole 15 minutes before others (but no drams served). Now, as the name suggests, of course the festival was focused on independent bottlers, and there were many, many, many of them. Basically, most of the ones you can think of (with one exception, one of the oldest, owning a distillery near Pitlochry…iykyk). For whisky nerds like us, it was like being a kid in a candy shop – the range of drams was impressive, from a young blended scotch called Peatsmoke on Gorgie, by the Campbeltown-based Watt Whisky, to a 25y Bowmore from Tri Carragh. And so many others: Woodrow’s, Fragrant Drops (with a new line of small batches whisky called Elevenses), obviously the SMWS, Cadenheads, Elixir Distillers, Thompson Brothers, the small but great Whisky Concerto, Lady of the Glen…you name it! It was a great session, not too crowded and we had a lot of fun. We didn’t know at the time, but we know now, that there is going to be a second one in 2026, hurray!

  • …more whisky enthusiasts…
  • …and more!

Overall we loved both of those festivals, we feel that are the perfect size for us: not too big, not too overwhelming, but with all of the whisky we want to sip. But mostly, with the right people: in the crowd, behind the stands and among the staff. Getting to chat with friends and other whisky enthusiasts like us, exchanging drams’ suggestions and having a laugh is really what makes these occasions special. What to say more? Just that we are looking forward to next year editions!

Until next time, slainte!

Links

Fife Whisky Festival: https://www.fifewhiskyfestival.com/

Independent Spirits Festival: https://www.independentspirits.co.uk/

#56.5 Dramming Down Under

A hidden gem in Southern Australia: Fleurieu

 

TL; DR: The drive on the Great Ocean Road was really great, plenty of beautiful landscapes and some nice wildlife. Before getting to Adelaide though, we did one last stop in Goolwa, to visit Fleurieu distillery. Another craft family business, we learned how they went from brewing to distilling, and had a taste of their amazing malts. 

(missed Part 4/Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

This post starts with us on the road again, specifically on the Great Ocean Road, which stretches from Melbourne to Warrnambool. We did a few stops along the way: Lorne, for breakfast at a nice café and art gallery called QDOS, the Kennett River Koala Walk (where, despite the name, we almost didn’t see a koala on a tree), the stunning Cape Otway lighthouse, the famous 12 Apostoles, and past Port Campbell, for a quick swim in the Southern Ocean before stopping in Portland for the night.

  • Looking for koalas, unsuccessfully.

The next day the weather was not great, so we kept driving along the coast and visited a few other villages (Beachport, Robe, Meningie) before crossing the river Murray at Wellington, with the small boat watched by a flock of resting pelicans. Pelicans were not the first encounter of the day, as during the drive an emu and a kangaroo crossed the road! After the very short crossing, we drove through Langhorne Creek and Currency Creek wine regions (not stopping this time), straight to Goolwa, just about one hour away from Adelaide, on the Fleurieu Peninsula. This is a nice wee town, next to the estuary of the Murray river.

  • Between train tracks and the river: Fleurieu distillery.

The next morning we went for a run (the only one we did together in Australia), first along the river and then to the beach, and back to the motel. We were excited, because we had an appointment at a distillery, the last one of our holiday: Fleurieu. The distillery is on the riverside, in a listed building next to the train tracks (reasons why they cannot expand). We learned about them while visiting Melbourne’s whisky bars, and when we realised that they were almost on our itinerary, we contacted them and asked if we could visit. Gareth, one of the founders and head distiller, very kindly agreed and gave us an appointment for half hour before the bar would open to the public – nice gesture! Before the distillery, Gareth and his wife Angela were running the Steam Exchange brewery, founded in 2004, and located in the same building they are still using. However, after the boom of craft brewing, they decided to move to whisky, to differentiate themselves from the crowd. They started planning this change back in 2013, and for a while they produced both whisky and beer. They later phased out beer, which is now produced by another company on commission, using their recipes.

  • Distillery, warehouse and bar.

As Gareth welcomed us, he delved into the features of their whisky production. They start from local aqueduct water, which goes through a 10,000 carbon filter to clean it before mashing. The mashtuns used to be manual (they have two small ones), but then they added a mechanic stirring system. They aim for a clear wort, which is then passed down to one of the shallow fermenters, together with brewer’s yeast (some of their brewers’ heritage remains). In between these stages, they use a portable heat exchanger, to recover the heat lost from taking down the wash temperature to allow yeast to do its job under the best conditions. Fermentation lasts at least 8 days, once again a very long one! They use the “double drop” fermentation technique, which allows for a second fermentation – this is a brewing technique we are not too familiar with, definitely first time we heard about it in a distilling context.

  • Where the mashing happens.
  • One of the fermenters – 8 days before the wash goes into the stills!

The fermented wash is then transferred into the 3,600-litre wash still, and then to the 1,200-litre spirit still, both coming from Tasmania. To charge the spirit still, they use 600 litres of low wines from the previous wash still run, 300 litres of tails from the previous distillation and 300 litres of water. The first distillation is mostly run at night, to save energy; similarly, the second usually starts around 5am, and by 8am they are ready to take the cuts, done according to taste. Just before their silent season (December to January, when the weather is too hot), they produce some peated spirit, while they make unpeated spirit during the rest of the year.

  • Look who’s here.
  • A better view of the stills.

The cask filling strength is very similar to most Scottish distilleries, 63.4%abv, and in contrast to most of the other Australian distilleries but, again, similarly to Scotland, the abv goes down in this corner of the world. That’s because of the humid climate, influenced by the Southern Ocean. They fill many types of casks: ex-bourbon, Apera, Australian tawny, and of various sizes (we noticed a number of smaller size casks around). One practice that showed us their care for details: if they see that a cask is too active, they rerack the spirit (or whisky) into a less active cask, to slow the maturation process and allow a mellower maturation. This is because climate is still hotter than places like Scotland or Ireland, thus some casks might give too much too quickly.

  • Wee casks.

Finally, it was time to try some drams. We started with “Never a dull moment”: this is a vatting of Apera casks named after women in their families. Yes, every cask has a name, including some American oak casks named after United States presidents (until the 60s, then it became too controversial). This expression is a small batch (1,320 bottles, bottled at 47.6%abv). Small batches is what they mostly do, sometimes taking only part of certain casks. Another thing denoting their attention to detail, if you ask us. Moreover, despite some lower abvs, none of their whiskies are chill filtered or artificially coloured.

Anyway, moving on, the second dram was “Tapestry” (850 bottles at 45.2%), a mix of ex-bourbon and Apera casks. We then tried their first release, dating a few years back, in 2017: a Port cask whisky matured (600 bottles, 52%). Finally, we tried two editions of their blended malt collaboration with another craft distillery, Black Gate, from New South Wales. The bottling is called From Country to Coast, we tried Edition 4 (460 bottles, 48%, already tried back in Melbourne) and Edition 5 (240 bottles, 46%). We liked Edition 4 the most, but unfortunately it was not available to buy (which probably saved us a second bottle purchase, after Tapestry).

  • We liked this one…
  • …and this one.

We loved the whisky we tried at Fleurieu, definitely among the best of the holiday, and Gareth’s friendliness wa the cherry on the top. We also loved the attention to detail they put in everything they do, just a shame finding their whisky here in Scotland is so hard (the only bottling we found is this one, hefty!).

After leaving the distillery, we had some food and drove to Adelaide. We stopped briefly to say hi to a fellow barfly who was on shift in a liquor store that day. It’s always great to chat to whisky nerds during our trips!

Adelaide is a lovely city, a shame we stayed for only a day and a half. After that, we visited the Barossa and Eden Valleys (while we were there…amazing wines!), before the long drive back to Melbourne through the stunning Grampians National Park. There, we got a flight to Uluru, where we spent a few days before heading back home: definitely one of the highlights of our holiday (despite no whiskies there…we won’t put too many pictures here).

  • Uluru, breathtaking.

In general, the whisky scene in mainland Australia (we left Tasmania for another time) really surprised us, we had some amazing drams down under! But what we loved the most is the ethos and how people really care about what they’re doing there.

Stay tuned for some festival action, this time in Scotland, coming in a couple of weeks! Until next time, slainte!

Fleurieu Distillery Tour

Price: free (November 2024)

Duration: 1hr 30min

Tasting: Never a Dull Moment (vat of Apera casks, 47.6%), Tapestry (ex-bourbon and Apera casks, 45.2%), First release 3yr Port Cask (52%), From Country to Coast Edition 4 and 5 (blended malt, 48% and 46%)

Target: everyone, but whisky geeks especially

Value for money: NA

Highlights: the drams were really good

Recommended: a must visit if you are in the area!

Link: https://fleurieudistillery.com.au

#56.4 Dramming Down Under

Back to the city:
Starward distillery



 

TL; DR: After driving back to Melbourne, we visited another distillery: Starward. It is one of the few Australian whiskies we’d tried before the trip, and the distillery is modern and dynamic. The tour was very informative, and they had a great range of drams to try at the bar. A nice visit! 

(missed Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

The drive back from Kinglake was uneventful, although as we approached Melbourne roads were busy, which we didn’t expect on a Thursday early afternoon. Despite the traffic, we got back to our hotel in time to park the car, refresh ourselves at the hotel, and grab a cab to get to our next destination in Port Melbourne, south-west from the central business district: Starward, one of the most well-known distilleries in Victoria and Australia. Despite being in what looked like a mostly business area, it can be reached by bus (although we didn’t have enough time that day). From the outside the distillery looks like an industrial warehouse, its presence is only given away by some advertisement panels at the front, where the predominant colour is an electric purple-ish blue.

  • Refreshed and ready for round two.

Inside the building, the blue is still the main colour: the space is very wide, with the shop right after the entrance, as well as one of the old stills. On the left side there is a long bar, showcasing two bottle-your-own casks: the price tag betrayed the Diageo’s involvement in the distillery ($250.00). The distillery production is past the hospitality area, which has both low tables and barrels used for tastings. In the 5-10 minutes before the tour started, we mostly checked out the shop, and the many expressions available for purchase.

Pricey bottle-your-own.

Our guide for the day was Felix, who was very knowledgeable and promptly replied to all our questions. The first thing he asked us, though, was to leave our phones in a locker, for ‘safety’ and to avoid taking picture of production: a very weird company policy. Because of that, we don’t have any pictures of production, and we couldn’t take notes on our phones as we usually do. Instead, the day after we recorded everything in agent Cooper-style vocal messages while driving, to be used by our future selves rather than Diane.

The distillery was founded in the 2000s by David Vitale, who used to be a brewer: because of this, he was keen to maintain some brewing elements in his whisky. Thus, the malted barley they use is a pale ale malt from New South Wales. The malt is then mashed with water coming from Melbourne city aqueduct and, once done, put into one of the stainless steel washbacks. Here fermentation is kickstarted with a (secret) yeast recipe composed by mostly brewer and some distiller yeasts. It usually lasts five days, but it can go ahead to up to eight, continuing the trend of long fermentations we observed in this trip.

  • The only part of production we could see from the bar.

The spirit is double distilled in a pair of stills from the Italian maker Frilli (like Raasay and Teeling). The spirit still has a cooling jacket, to help regulate the temperature when the weather is too hot (it’d be harder to regulate the temperature of the entire massive open space). The spirit cut point is high, and for the newmake spirit they don’t use anything below the mid-sixties (64-67%), with the rest recycled as feints and mixed with the foreshots. The newmake spirit is then diluted to 55% before casks are filled. It is a lower abv compared to many distilleries, in particular in Scotland – this is because the climate causes the abv to increase while maturing, similarly to other distilleries in Australia, but also in other temperate areas like Kentucky.

  • As we could not take pictures in the production area, you’ve got one of an old still.

Regarding the cask choice, they aimed for a distinctive Australian signature, thus they mature their core whiskies in ex-red wine casks, mostly French oak, but they also use some American oak barrique. The reason why they did not choose Australian fortified wines casks was that there are not enough to maintain a core range (they didn’t say, but probably another reason is that wine casks are cheaper, as reflected in the fair price of the entry expressions). So, they still use fortified wine casks, together with a variety of other casks, but mostly for small batches or single cask bottlings.

  • Not the greatest picture, but it gives an idea of the space.

After the tour of production, it was time for the tasting: Starward was one of the few Australian whiskies we’d tried before this trip. Specifically, we’d tried the Fortis, thanks to our subscription to Whisky Me. The tasting started with a blended whisky, the Two-Fold (they have another one, Honeycomb). For this blend of wheat and malted barley, they source the wheat newmake spirit from elsewhere, and they mature it on site. It’s a very basic offering, mostly marketed as a cocktail component, but we found it punchy above its weight, considering it is bottled at 40%, and unexpectedly oily. The second dram was the Nova, matured in ex-red wine casks (French oak) and bottled at 41%. It was our least favourite. Finally, we tried the 100 Proof (name coming from its abv of 50%, so American proof), matured in American oak ex-Pinot Noir casks: this one was delicious, with creamy and red fruits notes, and not too tannic (although, compared to the average single malt drinker, our tolerance for tannins is probably much higher…We “blame” our Italian upbringing).

  • Our favourite of the tasting.

By the time the tasting ended their kitchen was closed, but we decided to stay at the bar anyway to try more expressions – not only bottlings available to purchase, but also curiosities and the odd ones. Here, we found the highest abv whisky we ever tried: 73.45%, first fill American oak red wine. Almost like chewing wood, but some water tamed it, and it was delicious. We also tried some of their peated cask finished whiskies, but not the Lagavulin edition whose price carried a premium: $199, compared to the $149 for another undisclosed Islay distillery, we’ll leave you to guess which (just remember who partially owns Starward…). The dram was good, but it didn’t blow our socks off. Another we tried was the Yering Station Pinot Noir finish (the same winery we’d visited that same morning). This one was tasty, but with a similar profile to the 100 Proof. We also tried the Munich malt whisky, the Botryties matured (Australian “sauternes”), the Shiraz octave cask finish, and finally, the one we liked the most: one matured in a single American oak barrel, previously holding red wine. Really delicious, a shame it wasn’t on sale.

  • Our curiosity was satistied…
  • …More than satisfied.

Tasting those drams made us realise how, to our palate, Starward works best with American oak wine barrels. Overall, the quality of whisky was surprisingly good, and it was a very interesting tour (in spite of the awkward phone policy), and Felix a great guide. It was a shame we couldn’t do their Masterclass and Barrel Tasting ($160.00pp), but is runs only once a week on a Saturday, and it clashed with the rest of our plans.

After the drams, we needed some food: so we got a table at a nearby restaurant, the Railway Club Hotel, where we had one of the best beef steaks ever! After dinner, we took it easy and enjoyed a 40-minute walk back to our hotel.

  • On the road, the Great Ocean Road.

The next day we finally left Melbourne, driving towards Adelaide on the Great Ocean Road. In spite of the short stay, we had fun in the city, and we were pleasantly surprised by the great whisky scene! Definitely a lot of stuff to do for whisky geek visiting. We won’t bother you much with the rest of our non-whisky holiday (well…maybe a pic or two), but the drive was amazing and we spotted some very cool animals!

This was not the last whisky story of our holidays, stay tuned for the last one! Until next time, slainte!

Starward Distillery Tour

Price: AUD 60.00 pp (November 2024)

Duration: 1hr

Tasting: 3 drams, Two-Fold blended whisky (40%), Nova Single Malt (41%), 100 Proof (50%)

Target: tourists and whisky novices

Value for money: ok

Highlights: the variety of expressions available at the bar

Recommended: if you’re in Melbourne, why not?

Link: https://starward.com.au/

#56.3 Dramming Down Under

The still in the Melbourne hills

 

TL; DR: Our third distillery visit of this trip, second in Victoria, was just outside Melbourne: Kinglake Distillery! A crafty distillery well hidden in the hills to the north-east of Melbourne, not too far from the Yarra Valley. We had a great time with Sam, one of the two owners, who showcased some very flavoursome single malts. 

(missed Part 2/Part 1?)

Our second full day in Melbourne was a busy one, with not one but two distillery visits. The first one was outside the city, so right after breakfast, we picked up our rented car and started driving, destination Kinglake, to the north-east of Melbourne. Years ago the area made the news as it was heavily affected by the 2009 massive bush fires. Once left Melbourne’s central business district, we drove eastward, on the busy highway going to Sydney. We soon left the highway, to get into the Yarra Valley, a well renowned wine region.

Because our first visit was after midday, we had enough time to visit one of the local wineries. Not knowing much about Australian wines (and not much about wine in general), we chose one of the oldest (and largest) producers: Yering Station. It is a big place indeed, other than the vineyard and the tasting room, they also have a bar and a fine dining restaurant. We went straight to the shop and tasting room, and chose a small tasting for us to share at the bar, which included five wines all coming from the estate for $20 (there is a cheaper tasting, $15, but with wines from their other estates or vineyards). It was a short but fun activity for wine newbies like us, and we liked the fruitiness and freshness of the products, in particular the red ones. We ended up buying a young and lively Pinot Noir with (2023 Yering Station), which we found perfect as an “aperitivo” for the coming days. Fun fact: if you buy a bottle priced over $35, the tasting is free. Some producers in the old continent should take note. Back to the car, we went to the next village to grab a sandwich before moving on.

  • Not dramming, still enjoying.

The Kinglake distillery is well hidden in the hills: as a matter of fact, it broke the record for the longest dirt road driven to get to a distillery, before held by Nc’Nean: for a moment we thought the small MG car couldn’t cope, but fortunately it did. The weather was sunny and mostly dry, so we were raising clouds of dust while driving. The landscape was quite pleasant: a mix of woodland and farmed fields, with many green fields around the distillery and a pond. From the website it’s not possible to book tours or tastings (except for one very exclusive experience), but both Sam and Chantal, the two owners and distillers, replied emails quickly and they made themselves available on the dates we suggested. As we arrived, we were welcomed by Sam, who had a Queens of the Stone Age t-shirt on. That put us in a great mood right away.

  • Not the easiest drive, but we got there.

The distillery is totally off the grid, and at that time it consisted of two buildings, but in our understanding, they are building a new bar and tasting room (and their own house too). The first building we visited is split in two areas – one hosting a bar, a small tasting room, and the office, while the other production and some racked casks. The other building is mostly used as a warehouse, but it also hosts the mill. They started distilling in 2018, with a very specific plan in mind: first, trying to stick to ex-bourbon casks, in contrast with other Australian distilleries that focus on ex-wine casks to build on the country wine-producing heritage. Second, releasing small-batch bottlings rather than single casks, to achieve a house style and a consistency that is harder to get with single casks only, while trying to keep prices lower. A very sensible plan, if you ask us.

  • A bit of production, a bit of warehouse.
  • Not the classic Porteus.

Production-wise, we found their process very interesting. One of the reasons they decided to start here is the source of water, Chryser Creek, which is on the distillery property and is so clean that it needs no treatment. The mashbill consists of four malted barley varieties: distiller’s malt (Atlas La Trobe, similar to Maris Otter), Vienna Schooner, chocolate malt (only 4%, to keep balance), all sourced in New South Wales, and 25% of heavily peated malt from Scotland (Simpson malting). They mash everything together, unlike Archie Rose, for example, who mash and mature every malt variety separately. Once mashing is done in the 18,000-litre mashtun, they ferment the wort with M1 yeast in open top washbacks, not common! The open top is to allow natural yeast present in the air to contribute to the fermentation, a technique that is mostly used in rum production. Finally, both distillations happen in a single 2,500-litre still, taking a low cut deep into the feints.

  • Open top fermenters.
  • THE still.

They fill casks on site, mainly in ex-bourbon barrels from Kentucky, sometimes resized in smaller casks by a local cooperage (quarter/octave-ish). Before we started the tour, Sam gave us a taste of the O’Gradys, one of their main expressions: ex-bourbon matured indeed, bottled at 46%abv (that batch, almost exactly 3y old). The second taste, later on, was of the Doubled Wood, starting in ex-bourbon but finished in Portuguese ex-Tawny Port barriques, made of French oak (again 46%, 3y). The third one, In the Blood, was a small batch of whisky finished in River Red Gum wood, and bottled at higher abv (60%, 3y), while for the last one, Full Noise, we went back to whisky fully matured in ex-bourbon cask, but at 61% (again, 3y of age…The batch we bought though was 60%). Other than these drams they also release some limited editions, like The Bog Monster (unfortunately not tried and sold out, but sounding amazing from the description!). The drams we tried were all flavoursome, very vibrant, slightly funky, with herbaceous notes in some. We liked in particular the two fully ex-bourbon matured expressions, very creamy and fresh, showcasing how different climates can have a massive influence on the whisky (more on this next week).

  • Firey but good!

As we left the distillery, and before driving back to Melbourne, we stopped for a walk at the Wombelano Falls, just a few minutes driving away and even more hidden in the hills (so much so that at some point we thought we had taken the wrong turn). It’s not a long walk from the car park to the waterfall observation point, but still a very pleasant and quiet one. Unfortunately we didn’t spot any wildlife, only another couple who were leaving the trail to get closer to the falls in what looked like a not very safe part of the forest. We didn’t hear anything in the news the next day, so we assume everything was alright for them. Once we got back to the car park, we left to get back to Melbourne in time, for our second distillery visit of the day. Great day so far, we only wished we had more time to explore the area.

Stay tuned for more on that! Until the next time, slainte!

Kinglake Distillery Tour

Price: free (November 2024)

Duration: 1hr 15min

Tasting: 4 single malts, O’Grady Stand (ex-bourbon casks, including resized, 46%abv, 3y); Doubled Wood (Portuguese ex-Tawny Port barriques finish, 46%, 3y); In the Blood (River Red Gum wood finish, 60%, 3y); Full Noise (ex-bourbon barrels, 61%, 3y)

Target: whisky enthusiasts

Value for money: NA

Highlights: the unique process and the wonderful location

Recommended: for whisky enthusiasts absolutely, worth the trip from the city and beyond

Link: https://kinglakedistillery.com.au/

#56.2 Dramming Down Under

The hidden still in Melbourne

 

TL; DR: From Sydney, we soon flew into Melbourne, where we were pleasantly surprised by the lively and interesting whisky scene. We checked out some bars, as well as local distilleries. We found out about one, Bakery Hill, at the last minute. The very welcoming staff gave us an in-depth tour of this very urban-style distillery. And they produce delicious whisky! 

(missed Part 1?)

After the visit to Archie Rose, we paused our whisky activities for a couple of days. After the distillery tour, we went straight to Manly (north of the city) to check out the famous beach and relax. The day after, together with one of Gianluigi’s colleagues and his cousin, we went to visit the spectacular Blue Mountains, about an hour outside the city – definitely worth it. Finally, on a sunny Tuesday morning, we flew to Melbourne. Once arrived, we headed towards the rental car place where, after a long wait, we got our car and drove straight to a car park near the hotel in the CBD. While we wouldn’t use the car for the first day or two, having it would pay off a few days later. In the evening, we met with a Teresa’s former colleague and then explored the city’s whisky scene, starting with the Whisky Den – an incredible choice of whisky, including many Australian, in a super cozy venue: thumbs up from us!

We didn’t take pictures at the Whisky Den, so you get Melbourne skyline instead.

Right before taking off from Sydney, our pal Joe (from the Edinburgh Whisky Group) had given us some advice about distilleries and whisky bars to check out in the city. A suggestion was a distillery called Bakery Hill. Armed with hope but not expecting much, we sent them an email straight away to ask if we could visit the day after, the only option we had to accommodate a tour while in Melbourne. To our surprise, they replied confirming their availability for a tour, fantastic! So, the next morning we took a train from the Southern Cross station towards Kensington, North-west from the CBD. The building is a small warehouse, very well hidden in the urban context, so much so that, at first, we cluelessly walked almost a block past it.

  • Would you have guessed that the distillery was there?

We were welcomed by Pete, one of the distillers and owner’s son. In fact, the distillery was set up in 1999 by David Baker, a former chemistry teacher, who wanted to prove that it is possible to make a good whisky in places other than Scotland. The distillery was originally outside the city, and they first released whisky in 2003. They then moved to within the city boundaries, only a year before our visit, in 2023. Now the distillery is mostly run by David’s sons, Andrew and Pete. Except for a small space they carved out for a shop and a small office, the distillery has two main large areas, divided by a wall. The first one is occupied by the still, a space for tastings and events, and racked casks on the side. The space is also used for other activities, for example while we were there Andrew was preparing their upcoming first blended whisky release (their single malt vatted with Australian grain whisky from ex-bourbon casks, 46%). The rest of production is located in the adjacent area, again with casks racked on all sides.

  • This looks more like it.

About production, the unpeated malt they use is sourced from New South Wales. The peated malt is currently sourced from New Zealand, while until a few years ago they were getting it from Scotland. They use 320kg of malted barley per mash, which is processed manually in a very “traditional” way. Fermentation is kickstarted with brewer’s yeast and is quite long, 5 days. Funnily, the two washbacks are named after a children TV show called Bananas in Pyjamas, thus Banana 1 and Banana 2.

  • Banana 1 and Banana 2.

They currently have one 1,000-litre still where they run both distillations. However, a new 3,000 litre wash still was due to arrive soon (at the time of visiting). As for maturation, they use mainly American oak ex-bourbon casks, in particular from Brown Foreman, including Jack Daniel’s. They mostly bottle single cask whiskies (in 50cl bottles), and everything every whisky nerd wants to know is handwritten on the back label: distillation and bottling dates, cask number. The whisky is usually older than other local producers, the ones we tried were between the 5 and 8 years old.

  • Nice still at the back, us not looking so nice.

Their current Signature range includes five single malts: Classic (unpeated, 46%, ex-bourbon), Double Wood (unpeated, 46%, finished in 1st fill French oak ex-red wine cask), Peated (46%, ex-bourbon), Classic Cask Strength (unpeated, 60%, ex-bourbon), and Peated Cask Strength (60%, ex-bourbon). In our tasting, we tried four of them in this order, except for the Classic Cask Strength. They were all very good, but the two peated expressions “knocked it out of the park” for us. They also do limited and seasonal releases, among the latter the Blunderbuss (after 5y in ex-bourbon, finished for 2y in Kalash Imperial Stout barrels) and the El Dorado (matured for 1.5y in Apera, i.e. “Australian sherry”, casks and finished for 3y in ex-bourbon). To note, they produce a gin too, the Oxford Traditional Gin (40%). Pete also told us that they started to work with some UK based independent bottlers to try get some of their whisky over here: Atom Brands already released one expression from them under That Boutique-y Whisky Company brand (the hilarious label was inspired by Breaking Bad series, given David Baker’s past as chemistry teacher).

  • Our favourite.

We loved the concept of this distillery: self-contained, doing things properly, and this ethos totally transpires in the quality of their drams. Bottles are pricey to be fully honest, even compared to some of their peers, but given the production size and the fact that they bottle one cask at the time, we can see why. Overall, one distillery we are super happy to have visited, and we’d definitely go back (in the unlikely case we’ll find ourselves in Melbourne, again)!

After the distillery we had a quick bite in a very nice café across the road, before getting on a bus towards Fitzroy and other areas in the north of Melbourne. In Fitzroy, we also paid a visit to the Elysian Whisky bar, on Brunswick Road: what a bar! We had a lovely chat with the owners (we were there kind of early, so the only ones), who suggested drams to try and guided us through them. One great thing of Australian whisky bars is that it is possible to order half-size drams (15ml, versus the 30ml full dram), which are a bit easier on the liver (and on the wallet), in particular for whisky curious people like us who always wants to try a few.

  • Aussie drams at the Elysian Whisky Bar.

After dinner we visited another fantastic whisky bar, Whisky and Alement, where we had another great time chatting with the super knowledgeable staff, who ended up gifting us a pin for their 10y anniversary…which was four years before, ahah!

  • The only non-Aussie dram we had at Whisky and Alement.

A great distillery tour and two great whisky bars, what a whisky day that was. We did other stuff (including getting the worst coffee of the entire holiday, and finding an awesome record in a second-hand music store, Travels by the American band Defeater if you’re curious), but the three above were definitely the highlights of the day.

Stay tuned for the rest of our Melbourne (and surroundings) action! Until the next time, slainte!

Bakery Hill Distillery Tour

Price: AUD 35.00 pp (November 2024)

Duration: 1hr 30min

Tasting: Classic single malt (46%), Double Wood single malt (46%), Peated single malt (46%), Peated cask strength single malt (60%)

Target: whisky enthusiasts

Value for money: good

Highlights: the history of the distillery and its urban style

Recommended: absolutely yes!

Link: https://bakeryhill.com/

#56.1 Dramming Down Under





An old “new distillery” in Sydney

 

TL; DR: A few months ago, we went on holiday in Australia. This, of course, was the perfect occasion to explore the Australian whisky scene. First off, we visited Archie Rose distillery, in Sydney. The tour was on their old site, now a bar and function venue, but all the equipment is still there. A bit of a touristy experience, but nice to visit nonetheless. 

One of the few remaining perks of working in academia, in particular during these lean years, is the possibility to travel to meet colleagues and attend conferences. Gianluigi was particularly “lucky” in 2024, as the main conference he attended was in Sydney (Australia, not Sydney, Florida)! It was a first for Gianluigi, who never been down under before. Teresa, on the other hand, visited Australia about 10 years before but only briefly. So, all the planets aligned for an Australian holiday after Gianluigi’s conference. And what’s better than going on some whisky exploration, while on holiday?

Before the trip, we didn’t know much Australian whisky, for two main reasons. First, only a few expressions make it to Scotland. Second, some Australian bottlings (in particular from Tasmania) can be quite pricey, and it’s hard to try them before buying, making them risky purchases. So, we were really excited to go on this trip and uncover some new flavours and drams!

  • Not the greatest picture, but here we are!

Our trip started in Sydney, with Teresa landing on a sunny Sunday morning, a day after the conference ended. We didn’t want to spend many days in the city (Gianluigi had been there a week, Teresa already visited), and because our first distillery wasn’t open for tours on Mondays, it was Sunday or (probably) never. Fortunately, Teresa landed early, so after checking in at the hotel, shower and a coffee (one of several), we were on the bus on our way to Archie Rose distillery. The distillery is located at the end of the Cannery Rosebery, a former cannery warehouse in the Sydney’s centre-south (between the centre and the airport), now hosting independent cafes, restaurants, shops (including a liquor store) and a gym: a very nice place. We were early, as usual, so while waiting we had a bite and a(nother) coffee in one of the cafes. When the time came, we entered the “distillery” through a narrow corridor, with casks behind fences from both sides. The word distillery is in quote because, as we’ll find out soon, it isn’t in production anymore – their production site is now in an industrial area of the city. All the equipment is still there and ready for use (so mothballed?), but the venue is now only used as a bar and for functions, hosting “distillery” tours and tastings.

  • A bar, a warehouse, and much more.

The tour guide, Caleb, welcomed us and, when everyone arrived (we were a large group, about twenty), started the tour. First, he introduced the business, that does not only distil whisky, but also gin, rum and vodka. They run some experiments too, like the Archiemite, a liquor flavoured like the Vegemite (we decided that trying the latter was plenty, though). The distillery was founded in 2014 by Will Edwards, in Sydney. In 2018 they moved to the new site, which is operational since 2020, and as we anticipated, the old site was “mothballed”. The first part of the tour focused on gin, which they produce from wheat-based neutral grain spirit. They use one-shot distillation (the still is called Juniper Lopez) with a botanical basket. Each botanical is distilled in isolation, and then the different spirits are blended together: a peculiar approach for gin, given most producers distil the botanicals together (as far as we know).

  • Meet Juniper Lopez.

We soon moved to whisky (yay!): the grains, malted barley and malted rye, are mashed in their mashtun (spectacularly named Danzel Mashington!), before undergoing a 2-week fermentation. They had two stills (although the current distillery has many more), called Biggie and Small, with cut points in the second distillation depending on the grain type. One peculiarity of this distillery is that they use six varieties of malted barley, including (but not limited to): pale, peated pale, amber, chocolate, caramel, aromatic roasted, light and dark crystal. They used to mash them together in one mashbill, but they changed approach and now go for individual mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation before blending the spirits together later on. This process is similar to what Canadians do with their blends, in our understanding.

  • A big malt variety, wow!

Cask-wise, they mostly use ex-bourbon, ex-rye, ex-apera (a sherry-like fortified wine produced in Australia, renamed to avoid issues with Sherry GI, which has to be produced in Southern Spain), and virgin oak for the rye whisky. Exceptions are river red-gum tree casks and those used to mature their own rum (obtained from different molasses type, hence “triple rum”).

  • And now meet Biggie and Small.

After the production tour, it was time for the tasting: we first tried 3 gins (see below), and then moved to whisky. First off, the Double Malt whisky, which is a blend of rye and single malts, bottled at 40% abv and made with cocktails in mind. Then, we tried both the Single malt and the Rye malt (both 46%): they were good, but both had some herbaceous/bitter notes that are not right up our street.

A wee taster of Aussie whisky.

Once the tour was over, we decided to visit their bigger bar (just next to the distillery) for a flight of their other bottlings. We tried the AR x ST Ali Blasphemy Coffee whisky (40%), a very interesting experimental whisky liquor with coffee used to dilute the abv instead of water. Then, we tried the Heritage Red Gum Cask Single malt (46%, Limited Edition #11), and the Rum Cask Single malt (58%, Limited Edition #10), with the latter being the winner for us. Finally, we had the two Opera House bottlings, the Classical whisky (ex-bourbon and apera casks, all NSW pale malt, bottled at 46%, 5,000 bottles), and the Contemporary whisky (same casks, NSW pale malt, ancient black malt, amber malt, Chocolate malt, again 46%, 3,000 bottles). The classical was our second favourited, after the rum cask. Side note, lots of geeky details on the bottles, nice!

  • Our favourite.

Overall a pleasant visit, although the tour felt a bit corporate and too scripted. However, it was really great to try their whiskies, as the experimentation with malt varieties makes them very interesting. In Scotland only few distilleries embrace such level of experimentation, so for us it was good to try something different. 

Stay tuned for our next story, from another Australian state! Until the next time, slainte!

Archie Rose (former) Distillery Tour and Tasting

Price: 29.00AUD pp (November 2024)

Duration: 1hr

Tasting: Signature Dry gin (42%), Emerald Finger Lime gin (40%), Raw Honey gin (40%); Double malt whisky (40%, malted rye and barley), Single malt (46%), Rye malt (46%)

Target: tourists and whisky curious

Value for money: good

Highlights: the full-on experimentation approach

Recommended: if you have some time to spare in Sydney, why not?

Link: https://archierose.com.au/

#55.5 All drams great and small

A distillery in Northumbria

 

TL; DR: Our Yorkshire trip had officially ended on Monday morning, but on the way back from Hunmanby to Edinburgh, we and other pals we did a further tour: Ad Gefrin distillery, in Northumberland! Production is aligned with that of Scottish distilleries, but the Northumbria history museum makes the distillery very local. Including the restaurant and bar, it is a great visitor attraction. 

(missed Part 4/Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

For the last time, we woke up in sunny Yorkshire, inside our cosy campervan, Mr. Vantastic. The morning was fresh but not cold, we soon got dressed and went for breakfast at the Piebald Inn, where some of our pals were. It was time for our drive back to Leith, but not without a few stops on the long way home.

First, the coastal town of Whitby, a bit less than one hour drive from Hunmanby. A few people on the trip had recommended it to us, and it was indeed worthwhile. We didn’t have much time to explore the pretty town, so we just climbed the ‘199 Steps’ to get a scenic view of the harbour and the old town, before getting a quick lunch and a coffee. Soon after, we were back on the road towards our next destination: the final distillery of the trip.

  • Sunny Whitby.

The distillery is Ad Gefrin (meaning the Hill of the Goat…loved it!), in Northumberland, 20 minutes driving (14 miles) south from the Scottish border, in the town of Wooler. They started distilling in November 2022, and opened to public in March 2023. We’d heard of them a few years ago already, but didn’t manage to visit until now, so we were quite excited. We met at the distillery with other few people from the Edinburgh Whisky Group. We were a bit tight with time, the last ones to arrive, so we had just enough time to park and get a (another) coffee in the very nice bar and restaurant, before the tour started.

Our guide for the tour was Lesley, who showed us the museum on the first floor. This is a very fascinating aspect of the distillery, and a first for us: except some old distillery equipment (Glen Ord), company heritage (Aberfeldy) or copper mining (Penderyn Swansea) exhibitions, we never saw a distillery with a proper history museum.

  • A glimpse of the museum.

It hosts the collection of artefacts mostly from the Golden Age of Northumbria, when Gefrin was home of a Royal Palace, and it is possible to visit it for £10.00. Our knowledge of the troubled Britain history between the fall of the Roman empire and the arrival of William the Conqueror is foggy at best (and mostly due to The Last Kingdom TV show, ehm…), so for us it was quite interesting. It is linked to the Gefrin trust, which since 2002 is preserving and investigating the historical sites of Gefrin, first discovered in 1949. The whole project costed about £10m, and was partially funded by the local council. At the time of visit it had attracted over 70,000 visitors.

After a video and a few moments in the museum, it was time to check out production, literally behind a door from the exhibition. The distillery, which was set up in collaboration with Ben Murphy, the head distiller, now produces about 270,000 litres of pure alcohol per year. The water source is a borehole, while barley is sourced from four local farmers involved in the distillery business as well. These days, they mostly cultivate the Diablo variety for high yield, which is then sent to Simpsons for malting, in Berwick-upon-Tweed. They process about 25 tonnes of barley every three weeks, doing one mash per day. The malt is mostly unpeated, although before the winter holidays they run an 80% unpeated and 20% peated batch, with the peated barley at high phenols parts per million (ppm).

  • Grit, and how the distillery building looked like in the past.

The mashing-fermenting-distilling equipment is from Forsyths, in Rothes, Speyside. The mashing process starts with a run of 65°C water for about one hour, followed by a second run of water at 75°C: from the two they obtain about 5,000 litres of wort. The third water, at 85°C, is kept for the next mash. They currently have four washbacks, with plans to add another four. They use dried yeast, and fermentation lasts about 100 hours, resulting in a 8-9%abv wash.

  • The bottom of the washbacks, for once.

Similar to Scottish single malt distilleries, they have a pair of stills, a 5,000-litre wash still, from which they obtain about 2,800 litres of low wines, and a 3,500-litre spirit still. In the latter, they cut the head to 75% abv, and then the tails from 65% abv, obtaining 600 litres of newmake spirit. Casks are filled on site, at the standard strength of 63.5%abv, and the bottling plant is on site too. They also produce gin with a dedicated still (fortunately!).

  • Stills with a view.

After the tour of production we walked outside, to a nearby, very beautiful building. This used to be an old mill, now used for storage. We also checked out a warehouse hosting, among other things, about 200 privately owned barrels.

  • So nice outside too.
  • The cask owners wall.

Back at the visitor centre, it was time for the tasting with Gwen, another guide. First off, the Tacnbora, a blend of irish and Scottish malts and grain whisky, bottled at 42.7%abv, from Oloroso sherry, ex-Bourbon and American virgin oak barrels. It was sweet and drinkable, someone would call it a “breakfast” dram. It was followed by their Thirlings Dry Gin (43.4%) and Flýte Whisky Cream Liqueur (17%). It was a very enjoyable visit, and we liked the idea of this project: not just a distillery, but rather a wider hub for all types of visitors, with a restaurant/bar and the museum.

  • A very drinkable blend.

Overall, it was a very interesting trip, an eye-opener on what other whisky producers are doing in neighbouring countries. Production-wise, Ad Gefrin was the most akin to a typical Scottish distillery, following the same path that other English distilleries took, like White Peak, Cotswolds and the Lakes. On the contrary, it was exciting to see how the other distilleries we visited could take advantage of more relaxed rules. For example, both Spirit of Yorkshire and Ellers Farm use wash not produced on the same site as the distillery (for the second, even produced by another company), while also mixing column and pot distillation. Cooper King have only one still to run both distillations, something we never observed in Scottish distilleries so far.

However, the thing that most hit us was the amazing hospitality. That might be due to the need of making a name for themselves, which is not granted by a geographical denomination of their products, but still, in all places we felt welcomed and not took advantage of. We cannot recommend enough to get in touch with these distilleries.

Until next time, slainte!

Ad Gefrin Distillery Tour

Price: £25.00 pp (October 2024)

Duration: 1hr

Tasting: Tacnbora (blended whisky, NAS, 42.7%, Batch 3); Thirlings Dry Gin (43.4%) and Flýte Whisky Cream Liqueur (17%)

Target: tourists and whisky novices

Value for money: ok

Highlights: the Northumbria history museum

Recommended: yes

Link: https://adgefrin.co.uk/

#55.4 All drams great and small

A dram-y day at the Distillers Lounge, in Scarborough

 

TL; DR: On the (almost) final day of our trip we didn’t visit any whisky distillery, but a rum one. It is located inside the Distillers Lounge, in Scarborough, where we had a full-on English whisky tasting and a great meal, before turning our attention to rum. It was a very fun day, and we have to say the quality of English whisky is really improving! 

(missed Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

On the Sunday morning, in spite of the very busy Saturday (two distillery tours, a brewery visit and the quiz), we woke up surprisingly rested. The morning was easy, we had breakfast in the van and a short stroll in Hunmanby, before gathering with the troop (except for some, who headed back home earlier) at the train station. Our destination was not far away: Scarborough, on the Yorkshire coast. In our understanding, Scarborough used to be a popular seaside destination for rich people to clear their lungs during the Industrial Revolution, in particular around the Victorian era. Nowadays, it doesn’t look as glorious, with a lot of closed up units on the high street, we guess one of the many victims of the massive deindustrialisation of the 80s and 90s.

Now, one could ask: “What were you doing there, then?”, which is a more than legit question, given the above. Well, it’s easy: because of the Distiller’s Lounge. This is a venue, conveniently located at walking distance from the train station, with a restaurant, a tasting bar and a spiced rum distillery.

  • A wee distillery in the Distillers Lounge window.

The whisky tasting bar is managed by Whiskyside, a small company run by Matt, promoting and selling English whiskies. As you can guess, the plan was a full-on English single malt whisky tasting. The location was a room underneath the main bar, looking a lot like a cellar. There, the biggest collection of English whiskies we ever saw was on display. It included pretty much everything you could think of, from limited releases and from independent bottlers. We even spotted a Bimber bottled by the guys behind Whisky Facile, an Italian whisky review website and blog.

  • Don’t look at us, look at the shelves – an impressive collection.

The tasting started with a first for us, a Henstone single malt, from a distillery in the Shropshire (near the Welsh border) established in 2017. A young expression, but quite round despite the age, matured in ex-oloroso sherry casks. The second dram was an old acquaintance, the Cotswolds (visited in Summer 2023) Founder’s Choice, a small batch release (in this case 2,500 bottles), fully matured in STR casks (former wine casks, shaved, toasted and recharred). It comes from the Cotswold’s small batches of the same cask type, ranging from ex-bourbon to ex-sherry, ex-peated whisky, etc. A very nice dram, very drinkable, but it didn’t impress us, contrary to the one that followed. This was from Adnams, a brewery and distillery in Southwold, which we had tried one or twice before. This expression was a 9-year old bottled for Whiskyside, bottled at 55%, part of their Explorers Series. The combination of casks is quite unusual: matured in second-fill French oak casks, and then finished in ex-Sauternes barriques (for two years), a finish that we generally struggle to appreciate. This one, however, smashed all our prejudice on Sauternes casks, as it was delicious, full of sweet, cream and chocolaty notes: tiramisù in a glass. What was weird is that we came across the same tasting notes independently, before sharing them.

  • We were really impressed by this.

The fourth dram marked the introduction of peat. First off, a 5y single malt finished in ex-PX casks (from Bodega Navarro, previously in ex-bourbon hogsheads). In our understanding this one was from the English distillery, but bottled in 2019 by Sacred Spirits (or Sacred Gin), after the second maturation in London (don’t know why it is important, but it is stressed on both the label and the website). It was a decent dram, but again we were blown off by the final one: a lightly peated Wireworks (from White Peak distillery, one of our favourite tours in 2023) matured in ex-Amarone red wine casks, bottled at 54.1% and made in a small batch of 662 bottles. Grilled berries notes, an excellent dram. Overall, it was an impressive tasting, it showed how good English whisky can be, even at young age.

  • Another cracking dram.
  • Great lineup!

After the tasting, we moved back upstairs for the meal, which included two courses for slightly less than 30 quid. When we saw the price, weeks before (one of the necessary evils of these group holidays is that we have to choose our meals weeks in advance), we were not so convinced. Truth be told, it was a fantastic meal, in particular the lamb was one of the best we ever had since we moved to the UK.

  • No, we didn’t take pictures of the meal.

After this tasty lunch, we went back to the cellar, this time for another tasting: a rum one, with mainly tots from the local Siren Distillers company, run by Jamie and Anna. The distillery is in the Distiller’s Lounge itself, right upstairs, with the still in the window. (Update March 2025: we learned from posts on social media that the collaboration between the Distillers Lounge and Siren Distillers ceased, so they moved to a different location).

Their main activity is to source rum, and then redistill or infuse it with their spices of choice. From their range, we tried the Golden rum (40%, blend of 5y Caribbean rums, infused with honey, orange peel and vanilla), the Dark rum (40%, blend of Caribbean rums, including a 10y Jamaican one, and again infused with honey, orange peel and vanilla), and a preview sample of their Spiced rum (38%, redistilled with a number of spices), respectively paired with candied ginger, dried pineapple and dark chocolate.

  • Ready for round 2 – a rum tasting.

We also tried the Botanical rum from Rum Runner (40%, distilled at Twisted Roots Distillery, aged in ex-red wine French oak cask), and a spicy (yes, spiced, but also SPICY) rum, the Hell Smoked Rum (40%, barrel-aged in peated ex-Islay Whisky casks with fresh chili peppers and cacao nibs). It was an interesting tasting, although we are not really into spiced rum, so we didn’t (and still don’t) have much basis for comparisons.

  • The malternative lineup.

After the train back to Hunmanby, we had a last pint at the Piebald Inn (to Gianluigi’s disappointment, the kitchen was already closed) before retiring to the van. Overall, it was a very fun day, and we were particularly impressed with the English whiskies we tried. One popular Glaswegian whisky youtuber said (more than once) that there is nothing like good English whisky to keep Scottish producers on their toes…True or not, we can definitely say that the quality of these malts is good in general, fantastic at times! And hospitality-wise, many Scottish producers should take example from their neighbours.

It was the last “official” day of the All Drams Great and Small tour, but we saved one last whisky experience for the following day. Until then, slainte!

The Distiller’s Lounge
Link: https://www.jspubcompany.co.uk/distillers-lounge/

Whiskyside
Link: https://whiskyside.co.uk/

Siren Distillers
Link: https://www.sirendistillersltd.com/

#55.3 All drams great and small

An English malt with a Tasmanian twist and an eye for sustainability

 

TL; DR: From Ellers Farm, we went directly to another distillery: Cooper King. Inspired by Tasmanian craft distilleries, they produce other spirits other than single malt, with a very interesting set up. And, everything is done in the most sustainable way possible, kudos! After the visit, we went to Brew York, for a tour, dinner, and a quiz! 

(missed Part 2/Part 1?)

After the visit at Ellers Farm, we jumped back on the minibus. Our next destination was only about half hour away driving north-west, approximately 13 km north from the city of York, in the village of Sutton-on-Forest. The distillery is called Cooper King, just outside the village. It was founded by Abbie and Chris, a couple who got the inspiration while travelling in Australia and visiting local distilleries. The distillery is named after Charles Cooper King, Chris’ great-great-grandfather. The main building is just a few meters from the gravel parking lot, and it harbours a bar/shop and production. There is also a nice wee garden outside, with wooden tables and benches, which we took advantage of after the tour. It was a nice sunny day!

  • Nice set up outside.

We were welcomed by Mark, tour guide and assistant distiller. Like others, he came on board as a crowdfunder. At some point (in our understanding) the two founders Abbie and Chris asked who among the crowdfunders wanted to be more involved, and Mark answered the call. We could clearly see his passion for the project. He explained that, in 2014, Abbie and Chris, once a biochemist and an architect, moved to Australia to travel, and started working as fruit pickers. Then, they went to Tasmania, and after getting in contact with Sullivan’s Cove and Lark, they decided to go back to England and produce a Tasmanian-style whisky. Back in Yorkshire, they bought the land thanks to a crowdfunding, as well as a 900-litre pot still (Neilson) straight from Australia.

  • Cooper King distillery in one shot.

Another principle they had in mind when setting up the distillery was sustainability. The electricity comes from renewable sources, of which 60% is produced on site with solar panels: this contributed to make them the first net-zero distillery in England. They also have a programme for planting trees and restoring woodland and wildflowers habitat for each bottle they sell. Moreover, they chose lighter bottles, and offer refills at the distillery, for a few quid less.

  • Ready for the tour.

Production-wise, they use Maris Otter barley malted in middle England. They pre-heat the small mashtun before mashing the malt. After that, the remaining draff goes out to local farmers to feed cows. Fermentation takes place in a 1750-litre plastic vessel (usually only half full to avoid foam accidents) and lasts seven days. Both distillations happen in the same still, which is different to what we saw in all the Scottish distilleries we visited so far. At first, Neilson the still was heated externally, but to make the process more efficient it was sent to Scotland for modifications and is now internally heated and insulated.

  • Inside Neilson.

The wash gets distilled to 25% abv, while the heart of the second distillation comes out on average at 75%, before getting diluted by filtered tap-water. Needless to say, everything in the distillery is very manual, except for the gin and vodka very modern cold-distillation machines (which take only about 10% of energy compared to a classic copper pot distillation).

  • Super-modern gin and vodka distillation.

They use a variety of casks from all over the world, and their main American cask supplier is the Garrison Brothers distillery, in Texas. Casks are kept in a safe container behind the distillery, while waiting to get a proper warehouse. They started distilling newmake spirit in 2018, and their first whisky was released in October 2023, about a year before our visit.

  • And Cooper King warehouse in one shot.

While we were outside checking out the casks, another member of staff set up the tasting in the main production room, which also serves as a tasting location. First, we went through five liquors and gins (see below), but as it’s not really our focus, we won’t spend many words on it. We were really interested in their whiskies. The first one was not exactly that: a newmake spirit, from the “Pilot Series” and bottled at 47%. It was followed by two single malts from their “Expedition Series”, Transatlantic (ex-bourbon and ex-wine casks, 48%), and Embers (charred ex-bourbon casks, 49%). Then, two single casks: first, an ex-Cognac matured single malt, bottled at the 53.2% natural cask strength; second, a dram first matured in virgin oak casks, then re-racked into an ex-Armagnac cask, again cask strength at 52.1%. The evaporation (or “angel share”) is higher compared to Scotland, about 4%, which combined with other specific conditions, might cause the abv to be lower for such young whisky. Overall, we could tell the degree of experimentation at this distillery is high.

  • The whisky part of the tasting, with our guide Mark.

After the tasting we had a few minutes to spend in the sunny patio, sipping on our leftover drinks, before getting back on the mini-bus. We headed towards York, precisely the Brew York Brewery. Despite the city location is not their main production facility anymore (that one is in York’s outskirts), it’s still a massive place. We did a production tour (£15, including four tastes) and then had dinner there (they do a range of Asian-inspired dishes, which were delicious, albeit heavy on spring onion). Unfortunately, the place was too noisy for the next scheduled activity, a whisky-based quiz, so we had to move to a quieter pub nearby. The quiz, organised by our whisky veteran pal Charlie, was great fun, and we went back to base all very happy.

What a great afternoon and evening we had! At that time, we had tried very few craft Australian whiskies (and even less Tasmanian ones), so the link between them and Cooper King was not evident to us. At the time of writing however (after a serendipitous trip to Australia…Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more), the connection is quite obvious: we spotted a very typical herbaceous note in Cooper King drams, the same we found in most whiskies down under. Overall, it’s a very interesting project, which we are very glad we got to know more of.

Next up, another Yorkshire whisky day, but not a distillery! Until next time, slainte!

Cooper King Distillery Bespoke Tour

Price: £20.00 pp (October 2024)

Duration: 1hr 30min

Tasting: 5 spirits (Dry Gin, 42%; Herb Gin, 40%; Smoked+Spice Dry Gin, 41%; Black Cardamom Vodka, 40%; Berry+Basil liqueur, 25%) and 4 drams: Transatlantic (48%, ex-bourbon and ex-wine, 1208 bottles), Embers (ex-bourbon, 49%, 938 bottles), ex-Cognac matured single cask (53.2%), virgin oak/ex-Armagnac cask (52.1%)

Target: whisky and spirit enthusiasts

Value for money: very good

Highlights: the distillery set up

Recommended: yes

Link: https://www.cooperkingdistillery.co.uk/